Kosher in Philadelphia- ASAP

[cheesecake17]

I'll be going to Philadelphia tomorrow for two days. Any reccomendations on where to eat? Looking for places for breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner. We'll have a car. Thanks!

[kosherfoodfan]

New Kosher place in Center City - Falafel Bar 1513 Chestnut under the Philly Va'ad (Keystone K). Have not gone there yet but sounds similar to Mama's. Will report back when I go!

[kosherfoodfan]

Update: Went to Falafel Bar today and it is pretty good. In many ways it is a standard falafel joint, but they do have a panini menu and a salad menu and fries which makes it a nice change from mama's. We had the Greek salad and the tuna panini, both which were very good. Place is casual, but has a fresh, clean appearance. They are closed on Shabbat. They currently have the KO hechsher but are planning on getting the keystone K hechsher.

[kosherfoodfan]

There are a few new places in Philly-Center City that are now kosher certified by Rabbi Zev Schwarcz (Orthodox) of NY/NJ that are really great: Su Xing House 1508 Sansom, Blackbird Vegan Pizzarria 507 South 6th Street, Swiss Haus Bakery 35 South 19th Street. I've been to all of them and I highly recommend them all. Local Mashgichim frequent the places regularly according to Rabbi Schwarcz.

[Prettypoodle]

Swiss Huas baker is where nmy art school buddies woudl go for special occasions. Nice to hear it it now Koshe! YUM!

[morris]

Any updates on kosher places in downtown Philly? Even the vaad website looks like it might not be up to date.

[vallevin]

I think it is still just Mama's vegetarian.

[zsero]

Really? Didn't Maccabeam reopen? When I was there in September I was told it was going to reopen the day after Tzom Gedaliah. Did that not happen?

[Reveg]

Macabeam is open-cant tell you about it. though. Max and David's is about 1/2 hour from downtown and worth the trip. It would be a great restaurant anywhere.

[Bride of the Juggler]

Maccabeam did reopen under a new name. Also there is now Hamifgash (schwarma and kebob type place), run by the original owners of Maxim's in Cherry HIll. And of course there are still the Chinese vegetarian restaurants (Harmony, Singapore, Kingdom of Vegetarians) some of which are under Conservative hashgacha. Thank you.

[zsero]

Maxim was good. When driving through that part of the world I used to make a point of stopping there if it was anywhere near a meal time. If Hamifgash has a good hashgacha I look forward to trying it out

[Reveg]

Hamifgash hasgacha is no the standard one you see in Phila. You need to check if it meets your standards.

[Prettypoodle]

Maccabeam is now Galt Delight. My husband and I ate there a few weeks ago and it was really good. Not fancy at all, but just good food. I would go back againa nd look forward to doing so.
In Cherry Hill , NJ there is Perins (sp?) pizza/fallefel etc) and Cherry Grill, which I liked alot too. Cherry Hill is maybe 15-20 minutes from Center City Phila (but over the bridge)

[Dovid]

Mama's Vegetarian is fast and efficient. However, the place is dingy and depressing. The tables and floors are quite dirty, even when the place opens for the day, which does not bode well for the kitchen. One good thing to note, though, is that the guys behind the counter who prepare your food remove their rubber glove before handling your money, and seem to have been trained on at least this part of food safety.

There are several Chinese vegetarian restaurants with Conservative certifications. This may mean no onsite supervision, and they are open Saturdays. Admittedly, this is par for the course in smaller US cities.

[RichardGee]

Express Kosher is a nice place - reasonably priced

http://www.espressocafekosher.com/

also: www.MamasVegetarian.com

one thing guaranteed - you won't starve. also: http://www.yitzipeking.com really very nice place if you have a yen for Chinese/sushi

[cheesecake17]

We ended up going to Mama's Vegetarian for lunch and Max and David's for dinner. Lunch today was bagels from the hotel breakfast.

[lazercal]

How was it?? My wife and I are going to Philly in few weeks and had the same questions.

[cheesecake17]

Mama's was good- falafel sandwiches. Not the best I've ever had, but really good. The place is kind of small.

Max and David's was really awesome. I wrote a longish review when I first when.. you can search for it.

[vallevin]

Yitzipeking closed a while ago....

Most reliable up to date listing of place is this:

http://www.philly-direct.com/frum/vaa...

[weinstein5]

Check out http://shamash.org/kosher/ - one place I have been wanting to get to pjiladelphia to try is Max and Davids

[cheesecake17]

Thanks! I've been looking at shamash, but there's so much there.. wanted some firsthand updated reviews.